The end of the year is near, and the Korean music industry is abuzz with news of upcoming awards shows that seek to recognize the most outstanding artists in a multitude of categories.

As a nod to these important events in the K-pop realm, allkpop has decided to initiate our first ever “allkpop Awards” this year, and we’re inviting fans from all over the world to determine the results!

That’s right – the votes will be 100% determined by international K-pop fans.

In order to ensure that the results are achieved in a fair manner, we’ve established a system in which votes can be submitted once a day per category via Twitter or Facebook.

Fans can vote as many times as they like over the course of the awards voting period, but again, only one vote per category per day will be counted.

We are aiming to make this an award that accurately represents the opinions of the international K-pop community, so check out the nominees below, and help decide K-pop’s best of 2010!

A controversy has recently been surrounding the ‘2010 Yahoo Asia Buzz Awards’, as many fans are doubting the legitimacy of its online voting system.

Between November 8th and the 30th, Yahoo has been conducting an online poll for three categories:‘Korean Male Buzz Star’, ‘Korean Female Buzz Star’ and ‘Asia’s Buzz Star‘.

The problem that had caught the attention of sharp fans is that the poll results for some nominees had either taken a sharp rise or drop in a spontaneous fashion. For instance, in the ‘Male Buzz Star’ category, Jang Geun Suk’s poll results saw sharp rises and falls at a continuous rate, while a considerable number of votes for Kim Hyun Joong dropped unexepectedly.

Consequently, many netizens are suspecting the poll results to have a substantial error in voting calculations.

Fans have become even more angered by Yahoo’s lack of investigation on this matter, who merely called it a simple ’server error’. Netizens commented, “The globally acknowledged Yahoo doesn’t want to be humiliated in public, which is why they are ignoring the hard work of the fans”, “I want to rebuke Yahoo for their lack of action regarding this issue.”

Responding to such criticism, a representative of Yahoo Korea explained on December 2nd, “There was a problem with the server overloading, however, we have not been able to confirm a manipulation of the poll results. We are still inspecting the reasons behind these errors.”

They carefully continued, “We cannot reveal a correct set of poll results without fully completing our investigation. We cannot confirm anything for now.”

Meanwhile, according to the online poll results on the site, Jang Geun Suk ranked 1st place for the ‘Male Buzz Star’ category for this year’s ‘Buzz Awards’.

SNSD’s concept for the calendar was called, ‘Candid GIRLS with me’, in which the members posed naturally and expressed their friendly images.

SHINee’s calendar, titled ‘SHINee, Meeting Friends’, had the members dressed up in vintage outfits. Posing with special props, the photographers captured a classic yet unique atmosphere.

f(x)’s calendar, titled “Innocent f(x), Tainted with Nature”, dressed the girls in white outfits in order convey their innocent sides, while complementing them with colorful props.

The calendars are available in two formats – one for the desktop computer, and one to physically stick on the wall. The price has been determined for 15,000 Won ($13 USD) and can be purchased onGmarket from December 5th onwards.

Best Rookie – Song Sae Byeok (The Servant)
Best Child Actor – Kim Sae Ron (The Man From Nowhere)

The broadcast of the awards ceremony through MBC was delayed instead of being live, after the broadcaster chose to show the men 1,500m freestyle swimming final in which national swimmer, Park Tae Hwan, was partaking, and won the silver medal. The rating for the swimming event was 34.8%, so it seems like they made a good decision.

Park also anchored the relay team in the last race of the swimming competition, as the Koreans won the silver medal in the 4×100 men’s individual medley in a dramatic finish.

The ‘Golden Disk Awards‘has recently revealed their nominees for its 2010 awards ceremony, set to be held on December 9th at Koryeo University.

The awards show first began in 1986, and since then, it’s become Korea’s most prestigious awards ceremony for music. Nicknamed the ‘Korean Grammy Awards,’ the ceremony is known for its fair standards, as the committee utilizes figures from album and digital music sales only.

Due to such simplistic standards, the show is able to feature the truly successful artists that have received the love of the public each year, including the ‘indie’ or ‘underground musicians.

Check out the nominees below!

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<Disk Bonsang>

Kim Jong Kook
Album: Vol. 6 Eleventh Story
Title Track: “This Person”

DJ DOC
Album: Vol. 7 Taste for the Arts
Title Track: “I’m This Kind of Person”

Lucid Fall
Album: Vol. 4 Les Miserables
Title Track: “Mackerel”

Bobby Kim
Album: Vol. 3 Heart & Soul
Title Track: “Like A Man”

Vibe
Album: Vol. 4 Vibe In Praha
Title Track: “Come Back”

Verandah Project
Album: Vol. 1 Day Off
Title Track: “Bike Riding”

BoA
Album: Vol. 6 Hurricane Venus
Title Track: “Hurricane Venus”

SHINee
Album: Vol. 2 Lucifer
Title Track: “Lucifer”

Super Junior
Album: Vol. 4 Bonamana
Title Track: “Bonamana”

Supreme Team
Album: Vol.1 Supremier
Title Track: “Step Up”

SNSD
Album: Vol. 2 Oh!
Title Track: “Oh!”

Epik High
Album: Epik High / Epilogue
Title Track: “Run”

U-KISS
Album: Vol. 1 U-Kiss Only One Album
Title Track: “Bingeul Bingeul”